Hi, my name is Aaron Schachter. I am 19 years old and a first-year industrial engineering major at the University of Pittsburgh. I am from Lower Moreland, PA, (northeast of Philly). Here at Pitt, I am a member of the social fraternity, Zeta Beta Tau. In my free time I primarily find myself going to the gym and hanging out with my friends. I am a self-proclaimed amateur athlete, meaning I play almost all sports to a decent level, but none at too high a level. I Some fun facts about me are that I can solve a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute, I can dunk a basketball, and I, at my peak, was in the top 2% in the world in the game Rocket League. Some of my interests outside of engineering are philosophy, sociology, and a huge emphasis on hiking and exploration of nature. Thus far, I have traveled to Israel, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda international as well as Arizona, Florida, the tri-state area, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

I currently boast a 3.8 GPA making dean’s list, and especially excel in math, coming into college having already completed Calculus 2. Furthermore, I am on track to finish my first year with an A+ all math classes I’ve taken thus far, Calculus 3 and Differential Equations. Otherwise, I am on the cusp of completing the standard first-year engineering curriculum. Next year, I will be entering the Department of Industrial Engineering and hopefully start some research meanwhile, and hope to participate in multiple co-ops along the way. I am unique in that I already have internship experience coming into college with D’Huy Engineering Inc. Additionally, I currently work as a referee for Pitt’s Department of Campus Recreation. I am not set on what field I want to work in, but I do know that I am interested in human efficiency.

I am soon participating in Pitt’s Plus3 Cyprus Program this summer. The plus3 Cyprus program offers me a traveling experience most importantly, as well as an academic learning opportunity at the same time in a field that I’m interested in. I chose the Cyprus program in particular because of 3 main reasons. The first reason was that a friend of mine who took a gap year, told me all about his travels and one of his favorite locations was Cyprus. The second is that as a senior in high school, I took a trip to Pitt for an engineering interest event, and one of the topics discussed was abroad experiences. The Presenter, Dr. Streiner’s piece specifically caught my attention which specifically highlighted the Plus3 Cyprus program which he personally had chaperoned that year. The third reason is because the Plus3 Cyprus trip advertised to both engineering and business first-year students at Pitt, which is exactly the crosshairs of where my interest lay as an Industrial Engineer. I personally hope to gain a valuable experience in a foreign country with a unique culture and climate. Academically and professionally, this trip offers visits with Cypriot businesses which function both domestically and internationally, which both are invaluable experiences for someone completely new to the world of business. I am very excited for this experience and am so glad that it fell in my lap!

3 Important things I learned in Pre-Departure Class

• Cypriot culture and political climate are very deep routed, complicated, and there is tension between the two sides of the nation.
• Basics of Supply Chain Management
• Learning about Cyprus’s domestic and international economics has taught me about both the country individually and the field of exports as a whole.